The Patriot Post Chronicle 2-20-2013

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The Patriot Post Chronicle 2-20-2013
From The Federalist Patriot
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Hysterics Over 'Cuts'

February 20, 2013

The Foundation

"We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt." --Thomas Jefferson

Editorial Exegesis

"During the summer 2011 debt ceiling battle, President Obama's White House came up with the idea of sequestration. It is a mechanism designed to trigger automatic spending cuts in the event that a congressional 'super committee' couldn't agree to at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction. Congress passed the White House proposal, and Obama signed it into law. And in November 2011, Obama vowed, 'I will veto any effort to get rid of those automatic spending cuts to domestic and defense spending. There will be no easy offramps on this one.' How times have changed. With the automatic spending cuts scheduled to go into effect March 1, it's now Obama who is imploring Congress to undo them. As is his wont, he's resorting to demagoguery to make his case. Surrounding himself with first responders during a speech on Tuesday, Obama predicted a virtual apocalypse if the cuts he once supported now go into effect. 'Emergency responders like the ones who are here today -- their ability to help communities respond to and recover from disasters will be degraded,' he said. 'Border Patrol agents will see their hours reduced. FBI agents will be furloughed. Federal prosecutors will have to close cases and let criminals go. Air traffic controllers and airport security will see cutbacks, which means more delays at airports across the country. Thousands of teachers and educators will be laid off. Tens of thousands of parents will have to scramble to find child care for their kids. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will lose access to primary care and preventive care like flu vaccinations and cancer screenings.' ... Over a decade, the $1.2 trillion in scheduled cuts are barely more than a rounding error when compared with the $48 trillion the federal government would otherwise spend, according to the Congressional Budget Office. To say the sequester will not be painful for many would be untrue. But if Obama wants to preserve his credibility, he should probably stifle the Chicken Little routine. The historical and continued growth in government spending will not even stop to take a breath, because the 'cuts' in spending are actually just reductions in the projected growth of government spending. ... If Obama can't manage an ever-growing budget like this one without turning criminals loose on the population, then perhaps he's out of his league serving as president." --The Washington Examiner1

Upright

"When the Budget Control Act ... was adopted, it called for the automatic cuts to begin on January 1, 2013 -- three months into the [U.S. Government] fiscal year. To the surprise of no one, the House and the Senate and the President didn't want to live with the fruits of their fruitlessness, and so on January 2, 2013 they passed a quick law delaying the effects of sequestration until March 1, 2013 -- five months into the fiscal year. That bill was grandly named the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. That's the one that raised income taxes on rich people and payroll taxes on the rest of us thus providing tax relief to no one. ... You might have noticed that the House, the Senate and the President are so worried about this looming March 1 deadline that they are -- all 536 of them -- on vacation. ... Here's what we know: The Congress and the President are incapable of cutting anything from any program, ever. If the only way to reduce spending is by instituting automatic cuts, then I am for allowing the sequester to take effect and see what happens." --columnist Rich Galen

"Instead of letting obsolete government programs die, bureaucrats come up with new excuses to keep spending. ... The Washington Post reports on a federally supported program that is so bad that even President Obama wants it cut. The Christopher Columbus Fellowship spent 80 percent of its money on overhead. Three Republicans introduced legislation to end it, but the subsidy lives on, because one senator, Thad Cochran, R-Miss., likes it. So America continues to move toward bankruptcy. Instead of addressing that, the politicians will spend more. Instead of announcing 15 new 'manufacturing' hubs, the president should just announce 300 million 'do whatever you want with your own money' hubs. Then American citizens can do as they please.

That would actually do some good." --columnist John Stossel

"Many lawmakers view commitment as nothing more than a marriage of convenience that lasts only through Election Day. Where else can a presidential candidate run for office proclaiming 'Read my lips: no new taxes' and within months of assuming office, support a massive tax hike on the American people? Politicians including President Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania pledged fidelity to the Second Amendment during their campaigns, yet now these Democrats propose and support the most comprehensive attack on gun ownership in generations." --The Washington Times

"I am unalterably opposed to a bunch of billionaires financing a boss to pick candidates in 50 states. This is the opposite of the Republican tradition of freedom and grassroots small town conservatism. No one person is smart enough nor do they have the moral right to buy nominations across the country. That is the system of Tammany Hall and the Chicago machine. It should be repugnant to every conservative and every Republican." --Newt Gingrich on Karl Rove's new PAC

Insight

"The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those that speak it." --English novelist and journalist George Orwell (1903-1950)

"The more rules and regulations, the more thieves and robbers there will be." --Father of Taoism Lao-Tzu (570-490 BC)

Demo-gogues

The BIG Lie: "Over the last few years both parties have worked together to reduce our deficits by more than $2.5 trillion." --Barack Obama (For the record: The deficit has risen by a record $5.19 trillion under Obama's watch.)

GOP horror show: "The Republicans are poised to shut down government. The Republicans are poised to let the sequestration go forward, which is... 'Sequestration,' you know what that word means? What that word means to American people is unemployment, no jobs, take us to recession. It's not quite an, uh, exact Latin translation. But that's what it means." --House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Explanations: "I want to disagree with those who say we have a spending problem. Everyone keeps saying we have a spending problem. And when they talk about that, it's like there's an assumption that somehow we as a nation are broke. ... We're the richest nation in the history of the world. That kind of begs the question doesn't it? If we're so rich, why are we so broke? Is it a spending problem? No, it's because we have a misallocation of capital, a misallocation of wealth." --Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Humble brag: "This is something I've struggled with throughout my presidency. The problem is that I'm the president of the United States, I'm not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed." --Barack Obama

"This is the most transparent administration in history." --BO

Gun buying advice: "If you want to protect yourself, get a double-barrel shotgun. You don't need an AR-15. It's harder to aim, it's harder to use and, in fact, you don't need 30 rounds to protect yourself. Buy a shotgun. Buy a shotgun!" --2A expert Joe Biden

Oh please: "I don't think we should [cut congressional pay]; I think we should respect the work we do. I think it's necessary for us to have the dignity of the job that we have rewarded." --Nancy Pelosi, who has no dignity

Failing the laugh test: "I think the president's hallmark is not being on the left or the right, or even in the middle. The president's hallmark is being practical." --Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)

Um, what? "I stand here as a freed slave because this Congress came together. Are we going to be able to do it today to free America?" --Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)